Method of burning explosive gaseous mixtures.



c; EL-LUCKE. METHOD OF BURNING EXPtOSIVE GASEOUS MlXTURES,

APPLlCATIOHHLE D SEPT-21.1912.

1atente- July 13, 1915 mmw Attest tartan sand-ans Paranr oration,

CHARLES E. LUCKE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T GAS AND OIL COMBUSTION COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

I METHOD OF BURNING EXPLOSIVE GASEOUS- MIXTURES.

maniac.

New York city, in the county of New York" and State of New YOI'lQlIHIVB invented certain new and useful ImprovementsnMethods of Burning Explosive Gaseous Mixtures,

fully described and represented in the following specification 1 and the accompanying drawings, forming apart of the same.

This invention relates to amethod I of I burning explosivemixtures continuously, or

' No. 721,557, I have described a method of such mixtures.

non-explosively as distingulshedfrom non continuous or intermittent combustion of Inan, application filed by me on the 21st day of September, 1912, Ser.

' buriiing explosive gaseous mixtures by causing the mixture to flow in oneor a number ofjets or streams from nozzles with a velocity-greater thanthe rate of propagat on.

of inflammation through themi-xture, and while flowing unconfined to implnge upon the surface'of a freely porous and permeable bed of suitable material, whereby it is caused to spread out laterally with loss of velocity and to enter or tend to enter the pores or passages of the bed, and thenburnmg the mixture Where the velocity of flow equals the rate ofpropagation of inflamma tion and permitting the products of'combustionto escape through the passages or pores of the bed. As pointed out in said application, the combustion may be caused to locate at the surface of-the bed or within the bed, the location ofthe combustion sur face or zone depending upon the character of the bed and'the-velocity, size and, character of theimpinging jet or jets, and also to some extent upon the character of-the ex- I .plosive mixture. In said application I have claimedfthis method broadly and I have also claimed specifically in said application the methodof burning the mixture beyond the impact or baiiiing surface, or within the bed.

The present invention relates to the burna ing of exploslve mlxtures at or against a baiiling or lmpact surface. In burning ex- -plosive mixtures in accordance "with the method claimed herein, the mixture is caused toflow unconfined with a' velocity' greater than the rate of propagation of inflammation and its flowvelocity'is then reduced to the rate of propagation of inflammation by causing it to impinge against Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jul as, rain.

Application filed September 21, 1912. Serial No. 721,558.

and spread over the surface of a porous and permeable bed and it is then burnedat the impact surface, the products of combustion being allowed to escape through the passages or pores of-the bed. Under the influence of the burning mixturethe impact surface of the bedbecomes highly incandescent and radiates both heat and light to a high degree-With the free'cscape of the gases of combustion through the bed-beyond the impact face, and if thesurface ofthe bed is of a proper character, the outwardly facing surface of each part or particle of the face of the bed will be actually or practically in contact with apart of the explosive mix ture at the time when its velocity has been reduced to the rate of propagation of infiammation so that combustion will take place against suchsurface. Interposition of unburned or burning gases between the surface of the bed and the burned gasis thus avoided and the temperature of. the impact surface of the face of the bedis raised to the highest value physically possible so that it .becomes, as abovestated, highly incandescent, radiating both heat and light-to a high degree.

The impact bed of an apparatus for use in practising the method of this applica-- tion may be of any suitabletcharacter or con-- struction to provide the necessary pores or passagesfor the escape of the products of combustion and may be of any suitable material. Fora lasting or permanent bed, a suitable refractory material, that is, one which will withstand the degree of heat to which it is subjected, must be used. I have found chrome ore, alundum, magnesite, lime and carbon tobe suitable materials, and with comparatively weak mixtures fire brick' will answer. It is not necessary that the bed be of any considerable thickness and it may be formed by a comparatively thin perforate I or porous diaphragm or plate. sages through the bed need only be of such character as to provide for. the free escape of the products of combustion, and need porosity and permeability should, however, be such as to permit such free escape of the products-of combustion that with a given rate of feed of mixture the mixture will burn substantiallv in contact with all ofthe physical surface over which the advancing stream spreads. j v

To secure the highest temperature and 1n-' candescence of the surface of the bed, the

surface of the bed should be of such a character or have its surface particlesor parts so shaped as to promote proportionate passage of the mixture between the parts or particles and to prevent to the greatest degree the retention of a' dead layer of gas on the side toward which themixture is'advanc-. mg.

A bed of broken or I other suitable granular refractory material with the pieces either loose or bonded meets all the require ments. Such a bed may be in the form of a thin plate or diaphragm'or may be of any desired thickness. d It i'sdesirable also that the impact face of the bed be shaped accord- '46 i meant a 'inixture' of a suitable combustion supporting gas, either oxygen alone or air ing to the character andisliape of the jet or jets of'mixture caused to impinge thereon so as to secure the desiredspread of'the mixture with reduction of 'ittsfioW velocity to the rate of propagation of inflammation. Also the bed may be of various shapes according to the purpose 'to which the inven' tion is to be applied, and a single bed or aation of therate of combustion is believed to' be contributed by the incandescent solid matter. 7 j

Itwill be understood that by the term explosive gaseous mixture as used herein is or other oxygen-containing gas, with combustible matter in a gaseous or other finely divided, state in proper-proportions, that. is, in proportions such that the mixture will have the property of self-propagat1on of inflammation. For producing the highest temperature, the oxygen should be undiluted and the mixture should contain oxygen and combustible matter 1n chemical combmlng proportions at the time of combustion; but

there may be an excess of either the combustible matter or the combustion supporting v gas within the limitswhich determine the property of self-propagation. The character of the mixture in this respect will depend upon the desired character of the products of combustion, that is, whether it is.de-

sired that the products shall be neutral,-

the character and T oxidizing or reducing. Also,

the m ers may of course contain neutral gas such as;

nitrogen, carbon dioxid or water vapor, so"- long as the amount of such neutral gas is not sufiicient to make the mixture non-explosive.

The accompanying drawings illustrate simple forms of apparatus adapted for carrying out my improved method.

, In'said drawings; Figure 1 shows a simple form of single jet apparatus, partly in section; Fig. 2 is, a similar View showing a modified form of apparatus; Fig. 3 is a.

sectional view of another modified form of apparatus by which a plurality of jets-of the explosive mixture are discharged against the impact face of the bed; Fig. 4 is a simi-' lar-view of a still furthermodified form of apparatus; and Fig. 5 is a similar view ofa form of apparatus 1n which the fuel and gas, are supplied combustion supporting from separate nozzles.

f Referring to Fig. 1, 10 represents aporous and permeable combustiontsup'porting bed against which a jet or stream of the explosive mixture is directed by a dischargepipe or nozzle 11. The mixture may be supplied to the nozzle from any suitable sourcev or by any suitable means and should be sup.-

plied under sufficient pressure to cause the jet or stream issuing from the nozzle to move to- Ward the 'bed with avelocity greater than the rate of propagation of inflammation through the mixture. This figure shows a mixture-supplying means or apparatus for supplying a mixture of fuelgasand combustion supporting gas and which comprises a tank Gr for the fuel gas and a tank A for.

the oxygen or air or other combustion supporting gas, the two gases being supplied to the respective tanks by suitable means adapted to maintain the'necessary pressure to the discharge pipe ornnozzle 11.. The valves a and gserve to control the proportions of fuel gas and combustion supporting gas in the mixture and the velocity. of flow of the mixture from the'nozzle- 11 may also be controlled bythese valves.

therein; QAn outlet leads from each tank controlled'*"by valves a and g respectively and from these outlets a supply pipe -12leads- The proper proportions'of fuel gasand combustion supporting -gas,'that is, proportions such according to the nature of the constituent/gases that the. mixture will have the property of self-propagation ofinflammation, may be readily determined by experiment. When the jet orstream of mixture issuing from .the nozzle 11 strikes the face of the bed 10 it will spread out over the face of the bed and its flow velocity will be reduced. 'By properly adjusting the'supply of mixture by means of the valves a and g, the jet may be given such an exit velocity in excess-of the rate of propagation of inflammation of the mixture that when the jet is bafiled and caused to spread at the face of the bed its velocity will be-thereby reduced to the rate of propagation of inflammation so that when the mixture is ignited the-flame cap or surface of-combustion will locate against the impact surface of the bed. Theproducts of combustion' may, and the greater part of the same will, then pass awayfrom the combustion zone or surface through the pores or passages ofthe bed and escape from a part of, the surface of the bed other than the impact face, combustion thus taking .place in accordance with the method, of this ap pllcation'. As there is a ,very considerable reduction in the flow velocityof the mixture whenit strikes and spreads out over the impact face of the bed,,the combustion will remain localized at the impact face under quite considerable variations in the velocity v j the impinging jet so that an extremely accurate adjustment of the supply pressure extent thereof, the impact face should be :shaped according to the character of the jet.-'

With a single solid jet issuing from a cylindrical orifice, and with the mixture impinging atsubst'antially right angles against the Fig. 1.

face of the bed, the impact face should be of circularconcave. shape as indicated by In this figure I have shown the combustion supporting bed as formed of a mass of loose broken or other granular refractory. material such as lime, carbon,

chrome ore, alundum or magnesite in a suitable container 14;. With such a bed "the products of combustion will escape from the portions of the upper surface of thebed sur: rounding the impact surface as indicated by the arrows, or the container 14 might have outlet openings 15 as indicated by dotted With a combustion supporting bedlines.

-' formed of granular material or otherwise formed to cause a gas flowing therethrough to expand or spread out laterally as it advances, the combustion surface or zone may.

be caused to enter and become localized within the'bed as explained in my said application No. 721,557 byincreasing the'velocity of the impinging jet of explosive mixture, or by moving the nozzle toward the bedi As already pointed out, however, it

is not necessary when the combustion is to be localized at'the impact face of the bed,

' that the bed should be of such character as to cause the expansion or lateral spreadmg of gases advancing through 1t.

Fig. 2 shows a combustion supporting bed intended for combustion only at the imslightly v against which the explosive mixture is'di-Q pact face, the pores or passages through the bed having a uniform capacity or-cross area from the impact face to therear face of the bed and'being thus adapted to serve to carry away the products of combustion but not to causes gradual decrease of velocity of gas flowing through them. This figure shows, also, a nozzle ll having an annular discharge orifice for discharging 8,. 18h which is annular 1n cross section and which as shown is of a slightly flaring form. The impact surface of the bed for receiving this annular jet is formed with an annular concave face .for the same reason that the impact face of the bed for receiving a solid stra ght jet is best formed circularly concave.

Fig. 3 showsa plurality of nozzles or other openings arranged to discharge jets of explosive mixture against the impact face of a bed-sin the form of a thin vplate,

the pores or, passages in which are provided by simple perforationsw Fig. 4 shows a burner having annular plate or diaphragm having a concave flarin 'outer' surface a combust1on supporting-"bed 20 in' the fennel an rected from an annular series of nozzle.

- openingsin acircula r pipe 21 to which the mixture is supplied through a pipe 22. j

5 illustratesa form of apparatus in the fuel gas or other fo'rmof fuel and the air or other combustion supporting. gas are supplied separately from nozzles 30 and 31 respectively set so that the jetsof fuel and combustion supporting gas will 'meet at or near the impact face of the bed to form an explosive mixture which, driven by the force of the air jet or the fuel jet or both, spreads out with consequent loss of velocity and, the initial velocity of the jets bustion escaping as-before in great part through the pores or. passagesof the bed.

being properly adjusted, burns at the impact surface of the bed, the products ofcom- This form of apparatus, that is, --one,bywhich the fuel and combustion supporting gas are mixed adjacent the impact face'of the bed, may be used where the fuel is in the form of a gas but is especially adapted for use when oil or other liquid fuel is supplied in the form of a jet or-spray to be vaporized as .it reachesor approaches the impact surface of the bed where the combustion is located, the vapor then mixing with the air or other combustion supporting gas to form the explosive mixture. which then spreads out-over the, surface of the bed 'asbefore explained to be burned. I

The combustion supporting bed or diaphragin shown in Fig. 4., also the bed shown in Fig. 5, may be of any suitable freely porous and permeable material. They might be made, for example, by'molding a plastic mass of suitable refractorymaterial to which has been added matter which on berate a porous and" permeable bed, whereby the in connection with suitably arranged porous the mixture'continuously and driving it un-.

confined with a velocity greater than the of propagation of inflammation through the mixture toward the surface of mixture is caused to spread out over the impact surface and its flow velocity reduced to the rate of propagation of inflammation, and burning the mixture at the surface of the bed'and allowing the products of. combustion to escape through the passages of the bed. i p i 2-. The methodof burning explosive'gaseous mixtures, which consists in causing the mixture to flow unconfined with a velocity greater than the rate of propagation of inflammation through the mixture and then reducing the velocity to the. rate of propagation by'causing'the mixture to surface of a porous and permeable bed, and burning the mixture at the impact surface, and allowing the products of combustion to escape through the passages of the bed. L 3. The" method of producing heat, which I consists in combining a fuel in a finely divided state with a combustion-supporting gas in proportions to' form an explosive flow v against and spread out over apart. of the mixture, driving the explosive mixture un:

confined at a velocity greater than the rate .ofpropagation of inflammation of the mixture against the surface of a porous and permeable bed of refractory material the temperature of which is sufficient to cause ignition ofthe mixture, and burning the 1 mixture at the impact surface of the bed" and allowing the products of combustion toescape through the passages of the bed.

. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. v

CHARLES E. LUCKE.

, Witnesses:

,' FRANK C. EBB,

A. L. KENT. 

